Music Industry Members to Get in Ring Mayweather-McGregor Style

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There may not be a $300 million prize purse on the table like there is for this weekend’s Mayweather-McGregor fight, but the first-ever white-collar, music industry boxing tournament at Toronto’s Concert Hall Sept. 14 will raise funds for the Unison Benevolent Fund. Contenders had 10 weeks to train.

Dubbed The Red Carpet Rumble Music Edition because it’s taking place during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), staff from Live Nation, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), The Feldman Agency, FACTOR, Lemmon Entertainment, Invictus, Indie Week, plus artists and press will be stepping into the ring in support of the non-profit organization.

Unison provides counseling, emergency relief and benefit programs for those in the Canadian music community who face personal or professional challenges due to hardship, illness or economic difficulties.

“The Red Carpet Rumble (AKA ‘The Rumble’) is the first Boxing Ontario sanctioned White Collar music industry boxing event in Canada, bringing together two of the most coveted and popular live experience – boxing and music,” it reads on the web site. “In just 10 weeks’ music industry professionals with absolutely no prior boxing experience will become registered amateur boxers, competing against their peers for title and glory.”

Donations can be made to Unison in the name of your preferred fighter. Tickets for the event range from $50 (early bird) to $75 (general admission) to $125 (VIP access to balcony viewing and swag bag), plus service fees. Red Carpet Rumble T-shirts in black and white are also for sale on the web site for $24.99.

There will also be musical performances and professional fights throughout the evening.

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Cause Song of the Month:

HUGH MASEKELA, "Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)," 1987

South African jazz trumpeter and anti-apartheid crusader Hugh Masekela, who passed away today (Jan. 23) from prostate cancer at age 78, recorded 1987's "Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)" during his 30-year exile from his racially segregated homeland. Abroad, he had a No. 1 U.S. hit with "Grazing in the Grass;" performed on the Monterey Pop Festival; and recorded and toured with Paul Simon, among his successes. In 1990, when Mandela was finally released from prison after 27 years, Masekela returned home. In his statement upon Masekela's death, South African President Jacob Zuma said, "He kept the torch of freedom alive globally fighting apartheid through his music and mobilising international support for the struggle for liberation and raising awareness of the evils of apartheid." Buy the song here. — Karen Bliss

Charity Song of the Month:

GRAHAM COXON, "Falling," 2017

When Luke Daniel took his own life after a battle with chronic pain last year, his friend Graham Coxon from Blur recorded Daniel's song "Falling" to raise funds for suicide prevention. Proceeds from "Falling" will go towards an organization called CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). CALM's goal is to prevent male suicide, which the organization says is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the U.K. Buy it here. — Aaron Brophy

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